Incredible Idioms 9

To Throw Caution To the Wind

I came  across this lovely idiom while reading this tremendous book called Is It Just Me? by my favourite comdeian ever, Miranda Hart. She reffered to a reader who would read her book on the floor of a book store as throwing caution to the wind - and it gives a hint what this idiom is about.

To throw caution to the wind simply means to stop being cautious and give something a try. You ignore the dangers, you don't worry and just do it, dammit! I guess that usually it is used in situations describing socially or  emotionally risky situations, not that much the moments when you are in physical danger. But to support this claim of mine I would have to perform a corpus-based research and, well, I'm not gonna do that, sorry, chums! :D

Source

Well, anyways, let's crack on to some examples, shall we? 

I guess I definitelly threw caution to the wind that week before my state exams, when I went to see a lecture by my favourite writer. This is the daring, adventurous life I'm living. Brave, you say? Oh, stop it. But thank you!

And it was definitelly throwing caution to the wind when I decided to apply for Eramus, move out from my apartment, quit my job and just go to Norway, what the heck!

But I have to admit I am usually quite heedful and guarded, so I would never throw caution to the wind and drive under the influence of alcohol or consider being in a car with a drunk driver. No, thank you very much, I value my life quite highly.

What about you? Are you cautious types or you don't give a damn and throw caution to the wind all the time? Let us know in the comments below!